Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The news of the week that has trickled in is bloody as usual , it is at best interesting, if not bleak or hey, how about just outright horribly sad.

I can accept things like pandemics & earthquakes and whatnot...it's those man made messes & hypocritical heresies that get my lil' dander up...

I saw Iraq's gaunt former foreign minister Tariq Azis being forced by his captors to testify in pajamas on behalf of shackled pals, now sitting in baby cribs, courtesy the Green Zone's infamous kangaroo court where the media can observe only behind plexiglass.

Meanwhile the news reports were arife with the ugly stale My Lai-esque tales of Marines slaughtering civilains ( a report no doubt known for months by the brass & covered up until recently). No official action was taken in fact until Time magazine sniffed around about the "mysterious" civilian deaths that were found to include numerous women and even children as young as two, executed in their pajamas.

Finally after 6 months of "investigation", and a $38,000 payout to families of some of the dead, ( The U.S reportedly pays $2,500 per body killed by our "friendly fire") there has been a call for 19 US soldiers to face court martial proceedings. Never mind the thousands of other civilian deaths since this thing started a few years back... Ya'll should remember that Freedom isn't Free ... or pretty.

Meanwhile, in the Iraq here and now, at least 30 some odd people were blown to bits in Bagdhad this past weekend, a weekend whose meaningless statistical implications included pushing the journalist death toll milestone alone to over 70 since we brought our franchised brand of Freedom and Democracy to Iraq.

Our earlier Democracy in action project is still ongoing in Afghanistan of course, more troops sent in & Kabul erupted in riots as one of our astutely piloted military convoys ran awry, crushing civilian vehicles and pissed off the locals bigtime. They chanted death to America, and burned jus about any symbols of western influence they could find visible in Kabul, including the offices of C.A.R.E.

Meanwhile the freedoms that these folks are supposedly fighting bravely for and died for abroad are eroded ever further...

The Supreme Court, in all it's wisdom ruled 5-4 with Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito and Kennedy part of a majority that said whistle blowers should have less protection from employer retaliation.

Alberto Gonzales, our crybaby Attorney General apparently threatened to quit his job if the F.B.I was asked by Bush to returned any of the items seized in the search of a Louisiana lawmakers offices. The search prompted one of the first bi-partisan statements of both Republican & Democratic Congressional leaders in recent memory.

Ironically it appears only resisting investigations of corruption can bring our leaders together as apparently the right to hide bribes & corruption is one of the few things they mutually hold sacred.

Notice how none of these reps of the people did a joint statement to complain about the illegal intrusive gathering of your personal phone records by federal agencies.

In Europe though, it seems the U.S governments instatiable appetite for personal information has reached a limit...The European Court of Justice yesterday threw out a deal with US homeland security officials that blackmails airline into getting & then turning over 30+ pieces of passenger data like passenger credit card details to phone numbers before any planes are allowed to land in the U.S.

Airlines now have until Sept 30 to choose between defying the US authorities - and being fined or having flights turned back - or leaving themselves open to legal action for privacy violations in Europe.

Disputes over passenger records date back to the aftermath of the 9/11 suicide hijackings in the US, when the American authorities demanded more stringent security standards.

Speaking of frequent flyers, just back from Hawaii last week were Flogging Molly, and they came through San Francisco for a nice sort of liquored up event sponsored by Jack Daniels.

Singer Dave King made a quick joke thanking Guinness for sponsoring the shindig, as they normally pick up the sponsorship tab for the band's tour appearances... then we obligatorily saluted Jack Daniels, who were no doubt throwing some bucks around for the night's entertainment schwag, and free booze in the VIP balcony area I tended to linger in...

I was not a mere freeloader compromising my so called bloguristic integrity, as I carried plenty o' big bags of ice up those flights of stairs to the ballroom to earn my keep for he eve...

It was likely about my my sixth or so time catching those Flogging rapscallions in action, and I'm happy to report they've lost none of their charm or chops, and entertained a mixed bag of revelers , old fans & newbies for well over 90 minutes in the grand old Avalon off Van Ness in SF...

Apparently they've got a new DVD coming out, and according to their always friendly bassist it was a bit late for me to get my personal footage in ... hey maybe next time.

West Coast premiere will be at the band's pld stomping grounds of Molly Malones in July.

The film is called "Whiskey on a Sunday" and the Flogging Molly movie plays Los Angeles

June 27thJuly 11thJuly 18thJuly 25th

Film at 8:00 with the Dirges playing after

only $6

Molly Malones575 S. Fairfax AveLA, CA 90036

On the East Coast it premieres way sooner, we're talking on June 2 & 3rd at Pioneer Theatre at 155 East Third Street, New York, NY, 10009

The Pioneer is cool little theater in lower Manhattan, and if yer a drunken lout, then don't go without...

Speaking of Pioneers, I was at The Pioneer Amphiteater in the East Bay this past Monday and was able to check out an amazing outdoor oldies revue concert with Bobby Womack, The Dramatics, The Whispers, The Dells, and The O'Jays.

I was urged into action to attend The Stone Soul Picnic on a fine Memorial Day afternoon by my pal, whose an old school bay Area funk & soul aficionado. (He also used to sell Owsley acid for .25 cents a hit out a fish bowl on Haight Street, back when it was legal circa 1966.. but that's another story altogether...)

Knowing that the show was already sold out in advance, we still headed up to The Pioneer Amphiteater on the spur of the moment looking to get in. Sure enough as we began the drive up the hill into the parking lot of the University where the event was being held , the first batch of scalpers were positioned at the bottom of the hill entrance.

A big burly gold toothed thug lord with a posse of young'uns and a thick ghetto wad of ones wrapped by twenties offered us tickets at $20 over the face value. When we looked at the three tickets with smudged laser printing & two suspiciously bearing the same serial number we questioned the veracity of the deal.

This concierge to the underworld assured us that we would have no problems at the gate, and besides he said indignantly”Gimme Back Those Tickets Fool, I Don't Neeed Yo Money Maaaaang !”

The next guy in action up the hill was only asking $60 ( $5 above face) but had the same shady looking smudged tickets, with the same mysterious serial numbers on 'em...

We went further up the lot and found some good parking in the shade under a tree, and no sooner had we disembarked from the vehicle did another entrepreneurial type approach, this time with actual official "ticketmaster" printed tix, and he was selling them for $15 under face.

Patience is a virtue friends...

And with that our scalper even offered to escort us up to the gates, and we entered as Bobby Womack was in mid set. The legendary Cleveland born performer has had numerous carreer highs, but never truly crossed over to be widely known outside the black community.

Amongst Bobby's many career footnotes throughout the years since he started with the Valentinos in the would include playing guitar in Sam Cooke's band and later marrying his widow Barbara. Bobby was a regular at Chips Moman's Memphis studio "American" and even played guitar on Sly Stone's "There's A riot Going On" in 1971...

During his bluesy set he lifted his shirt at one point to show off a little bit of post middle aged paunch, and seemed to be the only singer on the bill who would not be wearing a suit. Instead Womack wore cool calm & casual khaki cargo pants and a house painters cap, whch made it look as if he was maybe taking a break from some drywall repair errands around the house...

The rest of the performers of the day would not be so casual as Bobby, and showed up dressed for a formal affair in full suits, no matter if they were cooking in the hot sun. The Dramatics were up next...

They played up their Detroit roots, used a hyper hype man, and a full horn section and took the stage with aplomb, and went through their repertoire of 70's era hits including both "Me & Mrs Jones" and "In The Rain" ( mp3s below).

Next up were the Dells, a group that has been around so long, they've been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, and it was just like a pitstop. Their falsetto singer, looked like a Grampa but could still hit & hold the notes that sounded like a lil' baby crying off in the distance.

I decided to try some that fried Catfish that was being offered by at least three different vendors in tents up the hill...

The Whispers , Bay Area faves since they formed in the sixties and on through their heyday in the 70's & 80's, have kept it up relentlessly through the nineties and even have a new millenial era Cd out called "For Your Eyes Only". The new disc is peppered with slick romantic quite storm type tracks, with soulful harmonizing vocal arrangements. Those slow & low type of tracks that aim to please those middle aged mamas & shady ladies out of their panties...

Carrying on in the R&B traditions laid out by the late Barry White, Phyllis Hyman etc , ya know that R.Kelly ain't got nuthin on these old school balladeers...

One of the first ballads that got their hometown crowd excited was "(Olivia), Lost & Turned Out", a mid 70's paen depicting the saga of a pimp & his main lady...

Plus, for added entertainment pleasure the two lead singers are also identical twins ho were wearing orange, and when they got the coordinated dance moves going on , they were looking like funky ooompaloompas... at least to me as I was puffin' away from a grassy knoll...We left as the sun was setting & the O Jay's ( inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as of 2005) were rocking the packed outdoor amphiteater to hits like "Use Ta Be My Girl" and "Love Train" ...

The band has existed since 1958, and put out it's first LP in 1965, recording for the Imperial, Minit, Bell and Neptune labels before Eddie Levert & crew hit their peak with Philadelphia International in the early 1970's. Their first big hit being the McFadden & Whitehead composed "Backstabbers" circa 1972.. Other crossover hits from that era included "For the Love of Money", "Let Me Make Love to You", "Give the People What They Want", and "I Love Music".

They last released material in 2004 via Sanctuary Urban, a deal guided by Beyonce's daddy Matthew Knowles and featuring producers Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis. Sanctuary, the parent company is the same UK based label that has been helping Morrissey stay in the marketplace.

Eddie Levert's voice is pretty choppy these days, but , hey what can ya expect, he's been on the road shoutin' longer than I've been alive...

Overall The Stone Soul Picnic just outside of Oakland was refreshing, inspiring and a good time for all. The crowd was skewed to older folks, and I saw very few if an kids in the crowd. It was super mellow for a large crowd, and the sky's were sunny, with the onstage antics and audience shout outs lending the whole affair a church revival meeting feel.

Hey, aside from the music and overall atmosphere, it was even impressive to see an organized effort with actual printed bootleg tickets, including an attempt to duplicate the metallic ink stamp of Ticketmaster circulating at an event that was low proile enough that few people I knew had even heard about it. In fact I was probably one of less than a dozen white folks amongst 5,000 or so in attendance that weren't actually working sponsor booths, concessions or security at the event...

Here's a unifying and uplifting tune that was composed by former Cameo/Parkway artist Bunny Sigler , but when left in the capable hands of Gamble & Huff, the tune was produced into an international chart topper for The O' Jays back when they were on the invincible Philadelphia International Records...

Here's another one from the Gamble & Huff era that was one of Richard Pryor's faves, after it's first run in the mid seventies, it was used on the soundtrack to his 1983 bio pic "Jo Jo Dancer , Your Life Is Calling"

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Ian Copeland , a new wave music industry pioneer and former head of FBI booking as well as brother of Police drummer Stewart Copeland is dead at age 57 from complications from melanoma.Born in Syria, where his father was stationed as a U.S intelligence agent or "diplomatic liason", mom did her own bit undercover for British Intelligence. Ian, the middle son was somewhat of a trouble maker, as the family moved around the mid-east, he soon found trouble hanging with Lebanese bikers & smoking hashish. Eventually running away as a lad to serve in Vietnam, he returned as a decorated US infantryman. Upon return to civilian life, he helped discover Scotland's own The Average White Band while working at the John Sherry Agency, and his older brother Miles got him his a gig as a road manager for UK based prog-rockers Wishbone Ash.

Before long Ian was commuting from the UK to US for tours, and eventually moved to Macon GA in the mid 70's where he started under tutelage with Alex Hodges' Paragon Agency. Hodges, now a honcho with House of Blues, had helped break chitlin' circuit acts like Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, Bobby Womack and Sam & Dave & was now a redneck rock maven helping promote Phil Walden's Capricorn Records acts, as well as southern stalwarts like the Charlie Daniel's Band, Allman Bros, Marshall Tucker Band & Lynyrd Skynyrd. At Paragon, they hired a local kid named Bill Berry to be a "gofer", and Ian started a cover band with him and his friend Mike Mills called The Frustrations.

In 1980, at uring of Miles, and sensing opportunity, he took fellow Paragon employees John Huie & Buck Williams with him to start F.B.I ( Frontier Booking International ), an agency that was responsible for arranging tours for numerous groups on his brother Miles' label I.R.S. These were many of the same groups featured by Miles & Ian in Urgh! a Music War, like Oingo Boingo, the Go-Go's etc. Ian's strategy to build audiences for unknown UK acts involved bypassing the humiliating process of begging for record company tour support and just creating a low budget DIY aesthetic. They found a circuit on college campuses & in lowly clubs like CBGB's in NY, 9:30 in DC & the Rat in Boston that involved picking acts up at the airport using the same van & gear over and over as each subsequent act came to the states starting with Squeeze, The Police, Gang of Four , Ultravox and on and on...In fact , along with booking the Police and Sing for years, it was Ian Copeland who indirectly led to creation of one of rock's biggest acts to this day, that being getting former Frustration's bassist & future R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills back into playing music. Mills had been indeed, a frustrated musician, and threw in the towel selling all his gear to Ian at one point in the midst of Macon's boogie rock saturated late 70's era. But after hearing the new acts coming over from the U.K on Ian's stereo , he abruptly changed his mind and moved to Athens, a nearby college town. Here's an excerpt from a 1984 Musician Magazine interview recounting the tale of he and Bill Berry hanging with Ian.

"Bill and I got to be friends with him," Mills explains. "We'd go over to his house and he'd start playing us the Damned, Chelsea, the Ramones, the Dead Boys, the Sex Pistols and I would put on the headphones and play his bass along with the records, going, 'Wow, this is fun.' That got me interested again. So I bought all my gear back."

Mills repurchased it from...Ian Copeland, who had bought it in the first place. ("I bought it back for less than I sold it," he laughs.)

As F.B.I booking got going, they of course helped establish Athen's own R.E.M and B-52s, as well as hot club acts like Squeeze, and later Ian played a key role in fostering the careers of Simple Minds, The Smiths, Ultravox, UB40, Peter Tosh, Siouxsie & the Banshees , nine inch nails, Joan Jett, the Dead Kennedys, The Ramones,Sting, Snoop Dogg, Modern English, Jane's Addiction and the Cure. There's nary a band on Ian's F.B.I era roster that wasn't brought to concert circuit prominence.

In 1995, he left the biz, and published an autobiography "Wild Thing" that detailed some of his exploits and how three sons of a C.I.A agent conquered the eighties rock scene. His Alabama-born father has also written three books about his experiences with the C.I.A.: The Game of Nations, The Real Spy World, and The Game Player.

Said Joan Jett in the forward of Ian's book :

"Ian Copeland was a larger than life figure when I met him. The whispers about his "spy" family only heightened the aura of romance and intrigue about him. His ear for music was legendary and he worked in an independent , cowboy like way that made him as cool as his acts.

Ian helped define rock for a generation. His belief in The Police, R.E.M.and a hundred other acts helped spawn the alternative music revolution thatwe're experiencing today.

He was one of the coolest and smartest guys in rock and roll.

-Joan Jett

said Joan's longtme manager Kenny Laguna said on Ian's passing:

I always thought Ian Copeland was invincible. He was one of my heroes from the time I first heard about his pioneering during the New Wave explosion of the late 70's and early 80's. His three years on Highway 13 in dangerous combat only made my view of him as a super human more indelible. He was as brave in business as he was in war... We are so sad. We will always love Ian Copeland, and we will never forget that without him, our success would not have been possible.

-Kenny Laguna

Through Ian's Backstage Cafe website members of band's like Anti-Nowhere League, Go-Go's & Simple Minds gave their high regards & snt love to his survivors. Amongst them, Dave Wakeling of The English Beat, who also passed on some words:

Thank you Ian, for everything you have done for me. The love you give lasts forever.-Dave Wakeling

Said Sting via his website

"Ian Copeland was both my friend and my booking agent for most of my career. He lived his life with the easy going, relaxed philosophy of a man who'd been under fire and survived, as if the violence that he'd witnessed and taken part in during his service in Viet Nam had given him a broader perspective on the important things of life. He was not driven by any grandiose ambitions, or the impossible demands of an overblown ego. He was self possessed and confident enough to take genuine pleasure in the worldly success of those close to him without taking any of it too seriously.Very little seemed to phase him, his agreeable humor became a constant that could be relied on as a counter to the often hysterical absurdities of a music business in constant flux and turmoil.

I would seek out the pleasure of his company, marvel at his dry wit, and listen raptly to his self deprecating, humorous and often terrifying stories. He was a brave man to the end, a great father and mentor, an inspiration to all of those who worked with him, 'Leroy' was the life and soul of any party. The world is a darker place now that he's gone. We shall miss him terribly."

-Sting

Stewart Copeland said of his brother's passing:

My brother Ian has died. His last weeks were peaceful and serene,surrounded by his family. He met his fate with courage, grace and even alittle humor. After Miles update on this site, I was able to relay to him your flood of prayers and good wishes. He liked that. He was very weak but was able to say 'Cheers and regards'. I am devastated beyond words.

-Stewart Copeland

Later a successful restauranteur, here's a half hour audio interview with Ian Copeland from 2005 via the Electric Sky podcast done from his Beverly Hill's restauraunt The Backstage Cafe

If anyone wishes to make a donation to a melanoma research foundation in Ian's honor, his daughter barbarasuggests that they may send it to:Live4life FoundationAttn: Melissa B. Sohn300 East 59th Street ( Suite 502)New York, N.Y. 10022

Fortunately, or Unfortunately depending on how you look at it, my workload is about to take a semi-welcome steep decline as summer comes into view...

I'll have more openings in my schedule, so it looks like I'll be working some more sporadic & temp type stuff until the fall...

Hopefully we can keep it fun, like my most recent work adventure... which was working a promotion for a natural cosmetics company over the weekend.. part of my mini gig was handing out natural body lotion to sweaty chickadees all day ... ( free application tips from me were optional )

this was at the infamous Bay to Breakers booty fest lasterday ...The event celebrated it's 97th year of running from SF's downtown piers , up Hayes St Hill & through Golden Gate Park & down to the fog banked Pacific Ocean ...

Some folks actually run it, but thousands more turn it into a combination Mardi Gras / Halloween type thang...and there really is nothing like it that I know of anywhere else...it snarls traffic hopelessly, stalls commerce, creates a huge mess, freaks out normal people... and is a civic tradition with no comparison...

imagine a drunken mutant offshoot of Halloween/Burning Man colliding with the Boston Marathon at 8 am...Typically by 10:00 am the quiet residential streets are littered with drunken casualties, and there's no darkness to shield the eyes of innocent bystanders, church folk & children...

Sure some lickety split Kenyan in short shorts took a $37,000 prize for his second annual victory in about half an hour, but the rest of the field trickles in slowly but squirrely over several hours, and the prizes are few but many photos may just be priceless ...Flaming Lips - Race For The PrizeBruce Springsteen - Born To RunGlenn Hughes / Joe Lynn Turner Project - Run Run Run

the late afternoon rain didn't dampen spirits of the revelers as much as the official "last call" and end of the hoopla... the booze ran out as did the buzz, as a half naked guy passed out on the bus next to me...

some drunks started complaining about the long waits for addtional transportation, as they forlornly flipped off the "lucky" people packed onto busses with n room for them to return... nary a cab was to be seen as thousands of freaks crawled out the park, some muddied but unbowed...

ah sweet chaos!& lastly here from the late 70's, we offer today a platinum "prog-pop" excerpt from a masterpeice of midwestern monotony, Styx's Grand Illusion. A song further immortalized in the late 90's as I recall via some sick lil' South Park episode...

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